


wicked games

by redhairedmuses



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Brotherly Angst, Brotherly Bonding, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Romance, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Issues, Good Parent Splinter (TMNT), Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, Mild Language, Multi, Platonic Relationships, Protective Siblings, Slow Build, Tone of the show but much darker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:22:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28643625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redhairedmuses/pseuds/redhairedmuses
Summary: It's been 3 years since Shredder was defeated and the Mad Dogs have been enjoying relative peace.Of course, the occasional run-in with one of the many mutants still on the streets of their city and the Purple Dragons trying to make Donnie's life hell is enough to keep them on their toes and in shape.Then, when one of Big Mama's closest clients goes missing and she asks for them to investigate, the Mad Dogs get straight to work.However, after rescuing a yokai from some kind of mystic cage, the turtles find themselves tangled in something much bigger than just a few missing yokai. With the help of this new ally -- a fox-yokai named Fennec --, the Mad Dogs find themselves facing a new foe who is just as cruel as Big Mama herself -- perhaps even crueler and far more deadly.And just like Big Mama, this one does not like to lose.--
Relationships: April O'Neil/Sunita (TMNT), Donatello (TMNT)/Original Female Character(s), Leonardo/Miyamoto Usagi
Comments: 13
Kudos: 16





	1. the fox & the hunter

**Author's Note:**

> hello friends! welcome to the new year and ya girl is back with another fan-fic! ho oh boy, can you believe it? after writing ‘bloody & torn’, i figured i would write another rise! fan-fic and decided to make this beautiful creature. 
> 
> now, i just want to give ya’ll a little background for the fic:
> 
> * takes place about 3 years after the defeat of Shredder, so therefore, the boys are now 3 years older: Raph is 18, Donnie & Leo are 17, and Mikey is just weeks away from turning 16. April & Sunita are both now in college. don’t worry, both will be in the fic too. you really think i'd write a fic without April? PLEASE.
> 
> * also, raph & leo are now co-leaders. i know that with how the show ended and the upcoming film, leo is named leader but because i felt that raph was still an amazing leader and so is leo... i came to a solid conclusion: CO-LEADERS. 
> 
> also: this fic will contain some potentially triggering subjects such as kidnapping, referenced torture, emotional abuse (by a parent), anxiety, PTSD, etc. i will make sure to add warnings at the beginning of each of the chapters that contain those subjects. so please keep that in mind when reading this fic. 
> 
> again, thanks for the support and love!
> 
> also, i want to thank users @goldenspecter and @readythefanons for beta-reading the first chapter! thank you both!
> 
> \- natalie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mad Dogs look for a missing yokai only to find someone very unexpected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> update: the very talented and amazing artist [Greaser-Wolf](https://greaser-wolf.tumblr.com/) brought my main girl Fennec to life!
> 
> here's the link: [Fennec, the fox](https://nat-talks-turtles.tumblr.com/post/641602179007905792/here-is-a-commission-for-nat-talks-turtles-of-her/)
> 
> go check them out on both tumblr and Instagram @Greaser_Wolf

* * *

New York is often known for being, well, _strange_ after dark. When the sun slips below the horizon, the city is bursting with life. The good, bad, ugly, and weird comes out to play until the morning sun rises once more. However, on this particular evening, the streets of the City That Never Sleeps are seemingly empty and quiet. The people of New York have long since retreated to their homes, opting for a night in despite it being just past 11 p.m. on a Thursday night.

But while the streets were empty and free of people tonight, that doesn’t mean that it often stayed this way for long…

And for four teenage mutant turtles (who also happen to be ninjas), this is just a regular night. Well, for the most part.

“Ugh, why are we up here again?” Leo asks for the fourth time that night. “This is cutting into my skateboarding time!”

The four are set up on a rooftop (how typical) with Mikey and Leo by the water tower and Donnie and Raph closest to the edge. Leo finds himself hanging upside down with his legs hooked on one of the water tower’s metal beams and a bored expression written on his face. Mikey is lying on the ground below him, eyes shut and arms crossed behind his head.

Donnie rolls his eyes, tapping on his gauntlet, and retrieving the most recent photo of their missing yokai. A large wolf/dog-like yokai with hulking shoulders, piercing yellow eyes, and a long scar running from their forehead through their right eye and swooping to connect to their jaw.

Leo visibly winces and shudders.

“For the last time, _Leon_ , we’re looking into the disappearance of _this_ yokai. They went missing a few days ago and because our dear eldest brother couldn’t say no to Dad, we got suckered into investigating their disappearance for Big Mama,” Donnie explains — for the fifth time that night.

“Yeesh, that’s a face only a mother could love,” Leo moans, shutting his eyes. “That thing’s probably gonna give me nightmares till I’m 30.”

Donnie rolls his eyes and smirks, swiping the screen on his gauntlet and the photo disappears.

“Wait, I thought she hated us after we kinda destroyed her hotel like 3 years ago?” Mikey pipes up, rolling onto his plastron. He props himself on his elbows, dropping his chin to the palms of his hands.

“She doesn’t hate us. She’s just a tad salty about her hotel being reduced to rubble,” Leo cuts in with a casual wave of his hand. “We’ve got nothin’ to worry about, _mi_ _hermano_.”

“Raph still doesn’t like this,” Raph responds, arms folding over his plastron, his shell to them. He’s looking out towards the city skyline; he doesn’t even bother to turn to respond to Mikey’s question. “But that’s why she reached out to Pops and not us. You know? You scratch my back, I scratch yours and all that stuff.”

“And if you want to be technical, Angelo, we were not the ones who destroyed the hotel. That is entirely on Shredder,” Donnie says. His voice drops to more of a murmur as he returns his attention to his tech gauntlet and says, “We just happened to be there when shit hit the fan.”

Groaning, Leo flips off the metal beam, landing gracefully on his feet and sticking the landing. Although their time in Big Mama’s Battle Nexus New York was 3 years ago, the memory rarely strayed far from his mind. From all their minds really. Of course, how could it? They had the battle scars (not to mention the mental trauma) to prove it. Then there was the whole thing of Shredder coming back (for real this time and not by Draxum’s hand), meeting and losing Gram-Gram (in the same day), and then defeating the Shredder for good in less than 72 hours. It was… it was a lot to take in.

And a lot to process.

But they had each other — and that was enough for them.

Leo shakes the memory from his mind. He rotates his shoulder, and upon hearing a satisfying crack he smiles. He turns to face Raph, quirking an eye ridge. He ponders for a moment, thinking back to how Splinter had put gummy bears and popcorn on their grocery list — and then it clicks. The real reason why Raph got them roped into this whole thing in the first place; a smug grin makes its way across his lips.

“And you couldn’t say no to Dad… because?” he drawls.

Raph doesn’t respond and the three younger turtles are met with silence. They all exchange similar glances of confusion and curiosity. Donnie raises a perfectly poised eyebrow and asks, “Raph? Do you have something to share with the class?”

“Nope! Nothing at all, everything’s fine, nothing to worry about. Everything’s good, my brothers,” Raph laughs.

Donnie sighs, shaking his head in disappointment.

“You’ve always been a terrible liar, Raphael.”

Raph flinches at the usage of his given name. Deep down he hopes that his brothers don’t notice. He sighs, hunches forward, and mumbles something the others can’t quite hear.

“hrmglttrpmphm,” the red-banded snapper grumbles.

“Huh?” Mikey says, cocking his head to the side with a raised brow ridge.

“Heguilttrippedme.”

“And one more time, big bro?” Leo presses, lips curling into his ever famous and patented ‘Dad’s got you wrapped around his tiny claws and you just couldn’t say no to the guy’ grin. Leo nudges Mikey in the shoulder, mouthing, ‘Watch this’. Mikey nods and watches the scene unfold like a movie — and it’s priceless.

“HE GUILT-TRIPPED ME, alright?” Raph snaps (quite literally), spinning to face two of his grinning younger brothers. Donnie snorts, not even looking up from his gauntlet. “Is that what you wanted to hear? That stupid rat-man guilt-tripped me into a Lou Jitsu movie marathon and gummy bears!” Raph’s voice lowers to a mumble and his cheeks flush with embarrassment. He averts his gaze and grumbles, “… you know Raph’s got a soft spot for gummy bears.”

The rooftops falls silent for a beat and then Leo busts out laughing. His laugh echoes as he doubles over, clutching his stomach. Mikey soon joins in with the shenanigans, laughing alongside the red-eared slider while Donnie rolls his eyes, hiding a smirk on his lips. Raph bristles at this, growling and narrowing his eyes at his younger brothers.

“And there it is folks, our mighty, big-brother brought to his knees with the promise of movies, candy, and quality time with our manipulative parental figure,” Leo shouts, wiping a stray tear from his eye. He quickly pokes his twin in the arm, laughing, “Yo Dee! My brother! My twin! Please tell me you recorded his confession!”

“You should know by now that I record everything,” Donnie smirks, shoving Leo to the side. “And once again, Nardo, I don’t need to remind you that we are not twins. Different species, remember?”

“Uggghh, c’mon weirdo, just lemme have this one,” Leo groans.

“Not on your life!”

Raph opens his mouth to say something in an attempt to defend himself and stop the two from bickering further but he’s interrupted by a loud crash and a shout, forcing the brothers to divert their attention to the noise below them. They all share a similar look of ‘what the hell was that’ and quickly stumble to the edge of the roof to see where the noise originated. Mikey scrambles to climb on top of Raph’s shoulders, making himself comfortable and surveying their surroundings. Donnie slips on his goggles and begins to scan the area for any mystic energy and bites his lip in concentration.

“See anything, Donnie?” Raph whispers, his own eyes scanning the area.

“Nothing yet,” Donnie responds. He twists the dial on his goggles, scans the street before coming to the entrance of an alley. Then he sees it — swirls of purplish energy trail from the alley: mystic energy. “Wait, wait — hold on, I think I might have something…” he trails off before he finds the source of the mystic energy. He points, shouting, “There!”

And in the dim lamplight, the four turtles find themselves staring at what appears to be a hulking figure in leather standing over something. Donnie zooms in on what appears to be a cage, and inside the cage, he catches a glimpse of something small and furry. Donnie’s mind goes straight to Mayhem and fear pierces his veins. The figure bends down to pick up the cage, chuckling and baring their teeth at the creature in the cage.

“My dear brothers, I believe we have just found our yokai hunter,” Donnie says. He pushes his goggles back up and rises to his feet. He retrieves his bo and spins it once. “Looks like they already have another yokai trapped in a cage. It’s small and furry — ”

Mikey slides off Raph’s shoulders and crouches down on the ledge with his nunchaku at the ready.

“You don’t think it’s Mayhem, do you?” Mikey asks.

“Only one way to find out. Alright Mad Dogs, let’s go be heroes!” Raph grins, spinning his sai. He thumbs Leo on the shoulder with a closed fist and winks at them. “DROPPING IN LIKE A BOSS!”

With a whoop and a holler of “Cowabunga!”, Raph tightens his grip on his twin sai and leaps down into the alley, and lands with a heavy thud. His brothers soon follow his lead, dropping in one by one and nailing their superhero landings — just as they had practiced.

“Yo! Big & Scaly!” Raph shouts.

Growling, the hunter slowly turns on their heel and the brothers finally see their opponent and Mikey lets out a sound that sounds something similar to “yeeesh.” The hunter is larger than they expected — much, _much_ larger. Reddish-gold eyes narrowed into slits, covered head to — er, tail, in black and gray scales. A forked tongue poking out of the hunter’s mouth and two rows of equally sharp and pointy teeth. The hunter is some kind of reptile, much like themselves but there’s something much darker to this yokai — and Raph doesn’t like it at all.

“Mind your own business, turtles,” Big & Scaly growls. “This does not concern you.”

“Oh c’mon, we heard you were looking for some yokai?” Leo mocks with a wink. He twirls his swords and points one at the cage. “Well, we might not be yokai but I’m sure we could work something else out, right? So, why don’t you put the little guy down and we can chat?”

Big & Scaly looks down at the fluff-ball in the cage and then drops it to the ground. The creature lets out a sharp cry as the cage tumbles a few times before knocking into a pile of garbage.

“Hey! That wasn’t very nice!” Mikey snaps.

Big & Scaly chuckles and it sends shivers down their spines. Their lips curl into a cruel smirk. They slowly reach behind their back and pull out a very large and very sharp-looking tetsubo.

“I don’t like to play nice,” Big & Scaly all but growls.

“Donnie, get that cage open!” Raph orders. Red sparks crackle in the air as he spins his sai and points to Big & Scaly. “We’ll take care of Big & Scaly here!”

“On it!”

Mikey and Leo are the first to jump into the fray, taking the right and left flank of Big & Scaly while Raph takes the more, well, direct approach. Donnie narrowly misses a swing from Big & Scaly’s weapon, leaping over a dumpster before somersaulting in the air and landing on his feet. He drops down to his knees and pulls the cage towards him. To his relief, the creature inside isn’t Mayhem, but a small, tan and white fox with an odd-looking collar around its neck. The fox starts to growl at Donnie as his hand braces on one side of the cage.

“Hey, take it easy there, I’m gonna get you out,” Donnie says, taking his hand slowly from the cage. He points to the lock and to the fox. “Just hold still and try not to move that much.”

The fox yips, pawing at the cage. Nodding, Donnie goes to work on unlocking the cage and freeing the fox from their prison while his brothers take care of the yokai hunter. The cage is pretty advanced, even by his standards, but he’s always liked a challenge. Luckily for the trapped fox, it doesn’t take Donnie that long to break the lock and open the cage, freeing the fox from their prison. However, when the cage opens, the fox doesn’t move. It presses further towards the back of the cage.

“It’s okay, I got you, come on,” Donnie presses, urging the fox to come towards the opening.

The fox yips twice and then scrambles out of the cage. The fox turns to him, raising a tiny paw and touching the collar around their neck. There’s the sound of wind whooshing through the alley, breezing past Donnie who shrieks, “Oh my banana pancakes!” and ducks down as a cloud of orange-white mist shoots forward and wraps itself around the furball. Donnie watches in awe as the mist glows and then disappears revealing a much larger version of the fox he’s just rescued. Their ears are fairly large and now that he can clearly see them, they have several piercings in their ears. They’re dressed in leggings, a hooded sweater-dress, and no shoes — and around their neck is something he’s grown very familiar with: a cloaking pendant.

But this was nothing like Sunita’s or Big Mama’s cloaking broach.

“Much better,” the fox-yokai murmurs.

“What the hell?” Donnie gasps. He scrambles to his feet, blinking slowly at the other yokai. The fox-yokai turns to him and looks at him with wide eyes. They take a step back as if they’re going to run but they stop and cock their head to the side.

Donnie clears his throat, hoping to catch the attention of his brothers. “Uh — hey, hey - uh, fellas?”

“Little busy at the moment, Dee!” Leo shouts, swinging his swords to connect and clash against Big & Scaly’s own weapon. His knees start to buckle under the pressing weight, grunting, “Unless you’d like to help!”

“Stay down, love,” the fox-yokai growls to him. Their lips curl into a smile. What shocks Donnie is the wink he receives in return. “I got this.”

Before Donnie has the chance to say more, the fox — or yokai? — sharply turns to the fight and growls, brown eyes shifting into slits. They dart forward, zipping past both Leo and Raph, causing them both to visibly react. Leo stumbles back, nearly swiping Raph with his swords. And Raph blanches as the fox-yokai jumps onto the back of Big & Scaly and bites them hard on the shoulder.

Big & Scaly screams, spinning in circles before snatching the fox-yokai by the scruff and throwing them to the ground. The fox-yokai lands gracefully on their feet and Donnie can see a torn piece of leather in their mouth. They spit the torn leather onto the ground and growl.

“Uh, hey Dee, is that — ” Leo starts to say.

“The fox I just rescued, yes,” Donnie finishes for him, tightening his hold on his bo staff.

“So, they’re a yokai?” Mikey asks.

Donnie nods.

“Yeah, definitely a yokai — ”

“Do you mind saving the small talk for later?” the fox-yokai interrupts, their voice surprisingly quite feminine. She brushes her hair from her face and gestures to Big & Scaly still across from them with a raised paw. “I don’t suppose you four would care to lend a hand? Or am I to finish this fight myself?”

The four brothers exchange similar expressions of, ‘what in the actual fuck is going on?’ before Leo shrugs, swings his swords, and then charges at Big & Scaly. Raph is not far behind, and soon, Mikey and Donnie join the fray. The fox-yokai fights alongside them, jumping onto Big & Scaly and snapping and biting at them. The hunter lets out a roar and snatches the fox-yokai by the scruff. The fox-yokai lets out a screech only to be thrown towards the turtles. The brothers all manage to jump or lunge out of the way of the fox-yokai, wincing when they — she? slams into the side of the dumpster and crumples onto the ground.

“Alright! That’s it!” Mikey shouts, eyes burning with a new fire. He spins towards Big & Scaly and twirls his nunchaku in his hands. “TIME FOR YOU TO MEET DOCTOR DELICATE TOUCH!”

The box turtle throws his nunchaku above him, hooking onto one of the fire escapes in the alley, and swings forward. He extends his leg out, cackling with a fire in his eyes, “HOT SOUUP!”

However, as he closes in, he fails to notice the hidden dagger laying in Big & Scaly’s palm. Smirking, Big & Scaly shoots their hand forward and the dagger goes flying to the fire escape, slicing through the bar that Mikey’s nunchaku was wrapped around. Mikey lets out a yelp, feeling himself slipping and braces for imminent impact. Big & Scaly growls and reaches out to snag Mikey by the throat. Mikey’s nunchaku is ripped from his hands and tossed to the ground. The youngest turtle gasps for air as he’s held up, feet dangling and kicking out.

“Mikey!” his brothers shout.

The three start to rush forward to attack but Big & Scaly only tightens his hold around Mikey’s neck. Mikey lets out a whimper and it sends a sickening feeling deep in his brothers’ stomachs. His nunchaku lay on the ground, forgotten and too far from him to reach. Raph snatches up Mikey’s weapon and stows it on his belt. Mikey claws at the hand around his neck, attempting to pry it free and send air back into his aching lungs.

“One more step and your brother dies,” Big & Scaly says.

“Don’t hurt him!” Leo snaps, hands gripping tightly on his katanas.

“Let me leave, and your dear baby brother will be unharmed,” Big & Scaly presses, eyes narrowed. “And if you try to stop me…” Their hand tightens around Mikey’s throat and the choked gasp that comes out of his mouth shakes Raph, Leo, and Donnie to their core. “… he dies.”

“Let ‘im go!” Raph shouts.

Mikey’s eyes start to flicker shut and his attempts of escape are proving to be futile. Big & Scaly laughs but their victory is short-lived. Unaware of the presence behind them, the fox-yokai jumps up, teeth clamping down onto Big & Scaly’s shoulder — the same one holding Mikey. Big & Scaly lets out another roar that reverberates off the alley’s walls, and immediately flings Mikey towards his brothers.

“I gotcha Mikey!”

Leo quickly sheaths his katanas and jumps up to catch Mikey, landing hard on the ground with a heavy thud. He draws Mikey close to him and looks up to meet Donnie and Raph’s worried gazes. Mikey groans and slowly opens his eyes, blinking owlishly at his brothers.

“You alright, Mike?” Leo asks.

“Yeah, remind me to never get on that guy’s bad side _,_ ”Mikey moans with a nod.

Raph and Donnie whirl around at the sound of the fox-yokai yelping and being thrown against the wall. The fox-yokai crumples into a heap, unconscious but still breathing. There’s blood dripping from the bite mark on Big & Scaly’s arm and a wave of anger washes over Raph. Growling, Raph tightens his hold on his sai, red sparks snapping and crackling in the air.

Big & Scaly slowly lifts their head, their free hand pressing down on their bloody shoulder, and then smirks. Raph lunges forward but Donnie grabs his forearm and hauls him back.

“Don’t! Let ‘em go!” he snaps, tugging hard on Raph’s forearm. “They’re not worth it — ”

Raph looks conflicted, gesturing to Big & Scaly. “But they — ” he protests.

“Mikey needs us, Raph!” Donnie reminds him. “We’ll get them next time, okay?”

Slowly, Donnie takes his hand away from Raph’s shoulder and helps Leo to his shaky feet with Mikey still in his arms. The brothers watch as Big & Scaly waves at them, laughs, and then disappears through a newly summoned portal. With Big & Scaly gone (and no longer a problem), Donnie immediately focuses his attention on his youngest brother who’s still coming around after being shaken like a rag doll.

“Are you okay?” Donnie asks, gently grasping Mikey’s chin and tilting his head side to side. “See anything weird like pink elephants or dancing hippos?”

“No, no hippos or elephants, Dee. You can stop babying me. We both know I’ve taken worse hits,” Mikey croaks, swatting Donnie’s hands away with a pout.

There’s a large handprint around his neck, fresh and red. He has tiny scratches on his neck from where Big & Scaly’s claws got him. He deduces that Mikey will have some bruising but that will heal in a couple of weeks. Donnie frowns, not entirely convinced of Mikey’s persistence. Mikey winces as Donnie continues his poking and prodding. He finally lets out a pained cry when Donnie presses down on a particularly painful spot on his neck and he smacks Donnie’s hand away with a glare.

“Oww!” he cries. He rubs at the spot his brother just touched and frowns. “That hurt!”

“Take it easy, Donnie,” Raph scolds. “We don’t want to hurt him more.”

Mumbling and rolling his eyes, Donnie holds his hands up and takes a step back, allowing Leo to set Mikey back down onto the ground. Raph hands him his nunchaku and Mikey happily accepts them. Mikey pats Leo on the shoulder and looks up to where the fox-yokai was thrown. Raph follows his gaze and finds the fox is still there and slowly struggling to her feet. He jogs over to the fox and holds out a hand for her to take. The fox-yokai eyes the hand wearily before accepting his help and clutching the side of her head.

“Thanks for the save back there,” Raph says. “You okay? You took quite the punch.”

“Well, you did get me out of that cage, so I guess we’re even now,” the fox-yokai mutters. “And to answer your question, I’m fine. I’ve been through worse.” She hisses as she pulls her paw away and bloodstains her tannish-white fur.

“Uh, you’re bleeding, so not fine,” Raph says. He turns to look over at his brothers. “Hey, Leon, we could use you over here. Looks like we got ourselves a head wound!”

“Oh joy, I love those,” Leo groans, rolling his eyes. He walks over, leaving Mikey in Donnie’s capable hands, and immediately begins digging into the pouch clipped to his waist. He draws out a tiny water bottle and a fresh roll of gauze.

“I’m fine,” the fox-yokai says again as Leo approaches her. “It’s not even that bad.”

Frowning, she rips her hand away from Raph’s. She blinks a few times, swaying on her feet before pitching forward. Raph is right there to catch her and she quickly sobers up to shove him away.

“Clearly you’re fine because you can barely stand without falling over,” Leo snorts. He jerks his head towards Mikey and Donnie. “Look, Miguel’s lucky he’s walking away with some bruising and scratches, you — ” he says while pointing to her. “ — on the other hand, are another story.”

The fox-yokai continues to glare at him.

“I don’t need your help,” she says through clenched teeth.

“Right, right, so, how many fingers am I holding up?” Leo says, flashing a grin. He holds up two fingers in front of her face.

The fox-yokai narrows her eyes and smirks.

“One,” she parrots.

Leo laughs and shakes his head — and the look on the fox-yokai’s face is utterly priceless. God, he wishes he had his phone handy to take a picture of her.

“Try two, Foxy,” he snorts. He drops his hand down and points to the empty crate next to the dumpster. “Now, take a seat and lemme work, okay? You probably have a concussion.”

The fox-yokai sighs, sitting down on an empty crate. She folds her arms over her chest and shuts her eyes. Leo quickly sets to work on the fox-yokai’s head wound, washing away most of the blood, and manages to clean up the wound as best as he can with the limited supplies in his arsenal. He digs out another water bottle and hands it to her. The fox-yokai opens her eyes and looks down at it suspiciously with a raised eyebrow ridge.

“It’s water, I promise,” Leo assures her. “Thought you’d like to get the taste of Big & Scaly out of your mouth.”

“How considerate of you,” the fox-yokai remarks. She takes the water bottle, downs it, swishes it around in her mouth, and spits it out. She shudders and wipes her mouth with the back of her free paw.

“So, why was that guy after you?” Raph asks.

“And why should I tell you?” the fox-yokai snips, opening her eyes fully now. They’re a brighter brown now, flickering in the dim light. “I hardly know you.”

“Well, we did just rescue you,” Leo says, still working on dressing the fox-yokai’s head wound. He gently wraps the gauze around the head wound before tying off the gauze and stowing everything back into his pouch. He crosses his arms over his plastron, taking one last look at his work. It’s not perfect by any means, but it will just have to work. “So, I believe you owe us a ‘thank you’ and maybe an explanation as to what you’re during in the city and not, ya know — underground.”

The fox-yokai grows silent, and her lips purse into a frown. Leo smirks and waits. Seconds tick by before eventually the fox-yokai’s shoulders droop. Leo takes in the drooping shoulders as a sign of admitting defeat. The fox-yokai takes in a deep breath, closes her eyes again, and nods.

“As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right,” she murmurs. She touches the side of her head where Leo has just wrapped it before bringing her paw to rest in her lap. “I do suppose I owe you a thank you for saving me. So, thank you — for rescuing me…” Her voice drops low, and whispers, “even if I could’ve done just fine without you four.”

“Uh — _scoff_! You were trapped in a cage! A yokai-proof cage, might I add,” Donnie pipes up, approaching his brothers and the fox-yokai with Mikey at his side.

“I had everything under control, no thanks to you lot,” the fox-yokai says with a roll of her eyes.

“Clearly everything was going according to plan,” the purple-clad turtle snorts, folding his arms over his plastron. His comment earns him a sharp jab to the side by Raph and a stern glare.

“So, what did Big & Scaly want with you anyway?” Mikey asks, leaning against Donnie for support.

“To put it mildly, I may or may not have had something in my possession that might have belonged to their employer that they clearly wanted back,” the fox-yokai answers. Her brows furrow and she huffs, “which was a lie. I only took something that _didn’t_ belong to them.”

“So, you’re a thief,” Raph pipes up.

The fox-yokai scoffs, appearing quite offended at Raph’s words.

“Thief is rather harsh, don’t you think?” the fox-yokai says. Her lips curl into a smile, revealing a pair of sharp canines. “I prefer the term, ‘requisitions specialist’, sounds a bit more pleasing on the resume.”

“Pretty sure that’s just a fancier way of saying you’re a thief,” Donnie comments, eyebrows furrowed.

“Ah, you must be the funny one,” she says with a laugh, pointing a paw at Donnie.

Smirking, Donnie opens his mouth to interject but Leo is right there to cut him off with a glare.

“Don’t even say it, Dee,” Leo whispers.

Shaking her head with a chuckle, the fox-yokai slowly rises to her feet. She steadies herself, bracing one paw on the wall, and looks up to look at the four brothers. She slowly brings her paw down from the wall, bows her head, and smiles, a silent thank you.

“Look, I don’t need to explain myself to you four and as much fun as this whole shebang was, I must really be going. After all, a thief is never off the clock,” the fox-yokai says. She waves and winks, “Ta-ta turtles! Perhaps we will meet again in the future!”

She taps her cloaking pendant twice, and right before their eyes, she shrinks down to the same size as she was when she was trapped in the cage. Mikey’s lips curl into a smile as the fox-yokai bumps her head against his ankle. Mikey reaches down to pet her but she dodges his hand, jumping up and landing on Donnie’s battle-shell, startling him before backflipping in the air and then dashing out of the alley, leaving four mutant turtles wondering what it was they’d just witnessed.

“Soo…” Leo says after the silence has become too awkward and painful to ignore. He starts rocking on his heels, glancing in between his brothers. “Who’s gonna be the one to tell Big Mama this whole mission was a bust?”

The alley falls silent and three pairs of eyes converge onto the one primarily responsible for getting them roped into this mess.

Raph’s face turns red and sputters, “Oh come on! Don’t make me do this on my own!”

“Relax Raph, we’d never let you face Big Mama without us! We’ll be right behind you! Right, Mike? Donnie? C’mon, help me out here!” Leo laughs, clapping a hand on Raph’s shoulder, and starts pulling him in the direction of Big Mama’s hotel.

“Yup! Right behind ya, bro!” Mikey chirps.

Raph lets out something like a whimper and his shoulders slump. Snickering, Mikey follows close behind only to stop and turn when he fails to hear Donnie’s footfalls behind him. He turns and finds his brother still looking down at the cage. He cocks his head to the side, watching as Donnie picks up the cage and appears to be examining it, turning it over a few times in his hands and humming.

“Yo, Dee, you comin’?” Mikey asks.

“Hmm? What?” Donnie says. He looks up to meet his youngest brother’s narrowed gaze and arms crossed over his plastron. “Sorry, yes, yes, I’m coming.” He quickly tucks the cage under his arm and follows Mikey out of the alley to catch up with their brothers.

As they pass the entrance of the alley, Donnie catches something moving in his peripheral. He pauses his stride and looks down the street in the direction the fox-yokai disappeared to — but no one is there. He ignores the feeling of being watched and continues on with Mikey at his side. He tunes out Mikey’s prattling on about whatever nonsense comes to his happy little brain and somehow still cannot shake the feeling that they’re being followed. He knows it’s not the yokai hunter but the fox-yokai —

He ponders a moment. Would she be really _that_ bold?

Donnie slows his pace and then looks up to see Big Mama’s hotel just two more blocks away. He hears Raph’s booming laughter and some kind of sarcastic quip from Leo. He can see that Mikey is now with them, joining in on the commentary. As three of his brothers head towards the main entrance, Donnie hangs back and stops at the steps leading up to the doors. He turns his head and sure enough, there she is. She’s standing on one of the buildings down the street and she looks shocked that she’s been caught staring.

Time stands still — and for a moment, Donnie feels that it’s just the two of them. He stares at her, waiting to see which one of them intends to move first. Seconds go by and Donnie smirks. The fox-yokai returns the smile and quickly disappears into the bluish-white portal. Chuckling, Donnie walks up the steps and strides into Big Mama’s hotel where his brothers are waiting for him. He glances down at the cage under his arm.

Something in his gut told him that this would not be the last time they would see this mysterious thief.

* * *


	2. from the shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, gals, and non-binary pals! we are back with another chapter for the books! 
> 
> thanks for all the love and support!!
> 
> enjoy the new chapter!!
> 
> \- natalie
> 
> also huge thanks to my lovely and wonderful betas! these people are amazing and i am so grateful for them!! thanks friends for taking the time out of your busy schedules to ensure everything is a-okay!
> 
> [goldenspecter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenspecter/pseuds/goldenspecter), [Topkicker26](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Topkicker26/pseuds/Topkicker26), and [borichu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/borichu/pseuds/borichu)

* * *

New York, to no one’s surprise, is full of yokai. All of which range from harmless business owners who simply want to make a living to those with bigger dreams, bigger pockets, and even more dangerous friends. It’s the latter kind of yokai that Fennec loves to steal — ehhem, _retrieve_ items from. 

And just like any other night in the beautiful city, Fennec finds herself on another job to retrieve a very special and valuable book from one Mr. Yikumura — another powerful yokai and close friend to the eight-legged, self-proclaimed queen of the Hidden City herself, Big Mama.

A smirk crosses her lips. Oh boy, did she love to mess with Big Mama’s friends. Now, _those_ are the best jobs of all — but that is beside the point. Tonight, she has a job to do. Fennec pulls up her mask and lowers herself into a crouch. When the arrow on her wristwatch hits 10, she watches the scene unfold beneath her. 

Mr. Yukimura — the disguised dragon-yokai and her current target — lets out a yawn, stretching his arms above his head, and gets up from his leather chair. He turns off the lights in his office and gathers up his briefcase from the floor and coat from the back of his chair. He drapes his coat over his arm and appears to take one last look around his office as though expecting something to happen. He may look like an ordinary businessman, but Fennec knows he is anything but that.

She glances down at the tiny bluish-purple pearls in her paw and tucks them carefully into her pocket. Oh, she can’t wait to test out Archie’s new toys on this job. 

Grinning, she shifts on the balls of her feet and looks down from her perch. 

Right on schedule, Mr. Yukimura exits the building where a black stretch limo is waiting for him. The car driver — another yokai, Fennec suspects — opens the door, and Mr. Yukimura steps inside. She watches as the driver shuts the door and walks around to the front of the car before stepping inside and driving off down the street. Once the limo has made a right turn, her lips curl up into a smile. 

_Showtime_ , she hums. 

Fennec carefully walks across the ledge of the building before slipping through the open window. She closes her eyes, pulls down the hood of her dress, and listens. Her ears twitch. She doesn’t hear any movement — a good sign, but also very dangerous. Fennec opens her eyes again and jumps down from the window, flipping in the air and landing gracefully on the area rug. She glances around the office a moment, admiring the architecture in the moonlight. 

It’s quite a lovely office with a crystal chandelier in the center of the vaulted ceiling. Most of the furniture, she notes, is vintage and made of some kind of dark wood — mahogany by the looks of it. To top off the “I have too much money and don’t know what to do with it” look, exquisite portraits and grand tapestries line the walls. Unlit oil lamps sit upon many of the built-in bookcases, and by the still-burning fireplace, several burgundy velvet couches and loveseats accumulate, waiting to be sat upon. And the pièce de résistance: a large selection of custom-made marble statues. 

Fennec whistles and runs a gloved paw over one of them, smirking. Mr. Yukimura certainly has an affinity for marble. And for himself. 

“And if memory serves me correctly, you, Mr. Yukimura, have a nice little button on one of these lovely statues,” Fennec murmurs aloud, her eyes skimming over the multitude of statues. She huffs and props her paws on her hips. “Now I just need to figure out which one it is…”

Sighing, she continues to peruse the office for some time, gliding past more statues before settling on one in particular. She smirks and shakes her head at the sight of the marble bust of Mr. Yukimura himself in his yokai form--a dragon with a scar running down the center of his right eye. She runs a paw over the statue, probing into groves, and skimming lightly along the surface of the smooth marble until she reaches the unscarred eye. The slightest bump mars the surface.

“How predictable,” she snorts.

She presses firmly and the sound of bookshelves moving graces her ears. The bookcase closest to her shifts, and soon enough, an opening beckons her. Grinning to herself, Fennec moves away from the statue and strides up to the hidden chamber. Inside, it is dark, but as she inches closer a series of torches light up and reveal a path to a pedestal topped with a glass display case. She cocks her head to the side, pausing.

 _Surely, it can’t be_ that _easy,_ she thinks to herself with pursed lips. 

Fennec walks down the path, and right there in the display case is what she’s been looking for: a leather-bound book with a closed eye in the center of the cover. It’s red and brown in color, and by the looks of it, very, very old. Other than some tears in the leather the book appears to be fully intact, and at the top, written in clear black letters, is the name **Yoshido**. 

Her eyes continue to sweep over the book. It’s asleep, its own eye tightly shut -- _well, no time like the present,_ Fennec thinks. She carefully taps the glass case, and before her eyes, the eye on the cover slowly opens. A pale-yellow iris blinks owlishly at her. The book makes a disgruntled grumble, and Fennec can’t help but chuckle.

“Hello darling, so sorry to disturb you,” Fennec smiles, waving at the book. In response, it grumbles again. “Now, I know it is late, but I believe it is time we return you to your rightful home, yeah?” She digs out the pearl from her pocket and holds it up for the book to see. “Close your eye for me, love. This will only take a moment.” 

The book does as she requests. Nodding in satisfaction, Fennec takes out one of the pearls and places it on top of the glass case. She takes a step back and watches as the pearl dissolves into a vapor, eating away at the glass and revealing the book to the open air. She quickly picks up the book and runs a paw along its spine. The book grumbles once more, its one eye slowly opening before closing again. Prize in hand, Fennec walks out of the hidden vault and strides up to the marble statue to close the door. She presses down on Mr. Yukimura’s unscarred eye and the bookcases hiding the vault shift back into place. 

“Finally,” she breathes, looking down at the book in her paws. “An easy job for once.” 

She goes to tuck the book into her infinity pouch, but something — well, more like _someone_ catches her attention. 

“I believe you have something that doesn’t belong to you, pretty little thief,” a voice purrs in the darkness. 

Fennec freezes. 

_Shit._

She clutches the book tightly in her paws and whirls around to see reddish-gold eyes staring at her. Holding her breath, she watches as the hulking figure comes into view, a pair of eyes glowing in the light as they slowly narrow into slits. Under the moonlight, Fennec can see traces of black and grey shiny scales and a very, very long, muscled tail. There’s a weapon strapped across their back that she can’t see, but she knows that it is big and bulky. But it is the forked tongue poking out of their mouth and two rows of equally sharp and pointy teeth that really catches her attention

 _That is one big and scaly yokai,_ she blinks. 

“Okay, first of all, don’t call me a ‘pretty little thief’. It’s insulting on _so_ many levels,” Fennec retorts, slowly backing away with a raised finger. She holds up another finger. “Second, _technically,_ this wasn’t Mr. Yukimura’s to begin with.” She holds up a final finger and pats the book on the cover. “And third, I am only doing what I am being paid to do -- and that is to return this book back to its rightful owner.” 

“Just give me the book and I won’t have to kill you,” Big & Scaly growls. 

“Ooh, hard pass on that one,” Fennec says. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to take a rain check?” 

Big & Scaly lunges and she yelps, shoving the book into her bag and backpedaling, “I’ll take that as a no, then?” 

The yokai only roars in response as Fennec dodges their claws and ducks past another statue. Spinning on her heels, she taps her cloaking brooch, and an orange-white mist surrounds her. Grinning, she shrinks down to the size of her namesake fennec fox and breaks into a mad dash for the open window. She jumps onto the desk, kicking up papers into Big & Scaly’s face before leaping through the open window. 

She lands gracefully on her feet and looks down below her. Yukimura’s building is at least 35 stories high, and she knows she won’t be able to stick the landing without breaking all the bones in her body or ending up a splattered mess on the asphalt. Whining, she frantically looks around her and notices several taller buildings across from her — one with stone gargoyles perched on the corners. _There!_ She taps her cloaking pendant, returning to her yokai form, and breaks into a run along the edge of the building. A moment of digging through her bag and she laughs, pulling out the one thing she desperately needs: a grapple gun, complete with a sturdy hook. 

“No time like the present,” she murmurs. 

She can hear Big & Scaly shouting and screaming at her from the office. She knows they’ll follow her, but she’ll just have to make them work for it. She aims the grapple gun in the direction of one of the buildings across the street, holds her breath, and fires. The hook flies in an arc and then hooks onto one of the gargoyles. Fennec tests the cable’s strength with a tug and freezes when she hears a loud roar not far behind her — Big & Scaly has finally climbed out of the office and is right on her heels. 

“Let’s hope this works,” Fennec whispers. She takes one last look at Big & Scaly charging at her, waves at them, and then swings off the ledge. 

For just one moment, Fennec feels like she’s flying, and then the next — _shinnkk_ _—_ instant panic. She whips her head up, eyes widening in horror, to see the hook starting to slip from around the gargoyle. 

“Nononono! Hang on just a little longer!” she pleads. 

But her pleas fall on deaf ears. The hook scratches along the gargoyle’s neck and then makes another equally unpleasant noise. Fennec yelps and reaches out towards one of the jutting ledges of the building, grunting as she collides with the stone and has the wind knocked out of her. She climbs onto the ledge and retracts the hook. Bracing her paws on bent knees she looks up to see Big & Scaly across the street, fuming. 

Fennec sends a mock salute, stowing the grapple gun in her pouch, and continues on with her escape. She sneaks into the building through an open window and quickly finds the stairs leading to the main floor. When she reaches the bottom, she pushes the front doors and exits onto the sidewalk. Big & Scaly is no longer on the roof when she glances up, but she knows that they won’t be far behind. She pulls the book out from her bag and shakes her head at it. 

“I really hope you’re worth all the trouble you’ve caused me tonight,” she mutters, tucking it back inside. 

“It won’t be much trouble if you just give it back,” Big & Scaly calls out.

Fennec’s head shoots up and sure enough, there they are just across the empty street, lips curled back into a cruel and menacing grin… _But how did they_ — She shakes her head and scowls. Nope, not the time for pointless questions. 

“Sorry, no can do!” Fennec shouts. 

She spins on her heel and breaks into a run, dashing down the sidewalk. She darts around the first corner, chest heaving as she sprints down the street with the yokai still hot on her heels. Fennec glances at her surroundings and notes the many alleys. However, she knows from experience that 90% of them will be dead-ends — and that was something she could not afford tonight. She makes another sharp turn into an alley and just as she feared, it’s a dead-end. 

“Shit,” Fennec curses, skidding to a stop. “Find a way out, Fen. C’mon, find a way out…”

After a moment or two of frantic searching and she catches sight of a fire escape. _Yes!_ She rushes towards it, but despite their size, Big & Scaly has caught up quickly and snatched her by the hood before she has a chance to grab onto the ladder. She lets out a yelp and kicks her feet out, knocking over some trash cans. Big & Scaly growls at her and retrieves something from their pocket. And Fennec’s heart races at the sight of it. 

_Oh no…_

A cage.

“Nononono! Hey! Lemme go!” Fennec yelps, swinging her arms out.

“Oh, I am going to enjoy this,” Big & Scaly grins. 

Chuckling, Big & Scaly taps the cloaking pendant around her neck. Fennec tries to scream but the orange-white mist envelops her, forcing her to shift into a fox once again. Big & Scaly unlocks the cage and tosses her inside. Fennec’s back hits the back of the cage and she whimpers from the impact. 

“I should tell you that the book was not the _only_ thing my employer asked for me to retrieve tonight,” Big & Scaly hisses. Their eyes flicker in the light. “They have been looking forward to meeting you for some time, _thief_.”

Fennec growls at the yokai and hears the sound of someone whooping from above them. She tries to peer over Big & Scaly’s shoulders, but it’s nearly impossible. Instead, she glares at the yokai through the bars of her prison and bares her teeth.

“Yo! Big & Scaly!” someone shouts.

Growling, her captor turns to look at the newcomers and Fennec can finally see them. Four turtles. She cocks her head to the side. They certainly don’t look like yokai — but Fennec has already been wrong once tonight. She can see that they carry a variety of weapons and each is wearing a different color bandana masking their face. 

Blue. Red. Orange. Purple.

Fennec blinks a moment.

Wait — why did they look so familiar?

“Mind your own business, turtles,” Big & Scaly growls.

“Oh c’mon, we heard you were looking for some yokai?” the blue one says with a wink. He twirls his swords and points one at Fennec. “Well, we might not be yokai but I’m sure we could work something else out, right? So, why don’t you put the little guy down and we can chat?”

Big & Scaly looks down at Fennec and then drops the cage onto the ground. Fennec cries out as she and the cage go tumbling into a pile of garbage. 

“Hey! That wasn’t very nice!” the orange-banded turtle snaps.

Big & Scaly chuckles and even Fennec finds herself scared for the turtles. She watches in horror as they slowly reach behind their back and pull out a very large and very sharp-looking tetsubo. 

“I don’t like to play nice,” Big & Scaly snarls.

“Donnie, get that cage open!” the red one orders. Red sparks crackle in the air as he spins his weapons — which from Fennec’s perspective look like gardening tools — and points them at Big & Scaly. “We’ll take care of Big & Scaly here!”

“On it!”

Fennec watches with wide eyes as the orange and blue turtles race ahead, taking the right and left flank of the yokai while the red one takes the more, well, direct approach. The purple one narrowly misses a swing from Big & Scaly’s weapon, leaping over a dumpster before somersaulting in the air and landing on his feet. He drops down to his knees and pulls the cage towards him. Fennec growls at the turtle as his hand braces on one side of the case. 

“Hey, take it easy there, I’m gonna get you out,” he says. She watches as the turtle takes his hand away from the cage before pointing to the lock and back at her. “Just hold still and try not to move that much.”

In a panicked frenzy, Fennec paws at the cage, tipping, and barking. She wants nothing more than to speak and tell him that the cage won’t open to another yokai. And trapped inside, her cloaking pendant is useless. The cage itself is yokai-proof. It isn’t going to open even if the turtle is the most powerful yokai in the world.

She barks again, hoping to get his attention, but the turtle ignores her and instead gets to work unlocking the cage. Mere moments pass before Fennec is shocked to hear the lock break, and then wrenched free from the cage. The turtle quickly opens the door and motions for her to come out. Fennec backs herself further into the corner — it has to be some kind of trick, she tells herself. 

“It’s okay, I got you, come on,” the purple-banded turtle says. 

Fennec yips twice, scrambling out of the cage and skidding to a stop. She raises her paw and taps her cloaking pendant. She can’t help but grin as a familiar orangish-white mist surrounds her, enveloping her in a warm embrace. She hears the turtle who rescued her cry out something, but she pays no mind to it as she rises to her feet and dusts off her shoulders. 

“Much better,” she murmurs, cracking her neck. 

“What the hell?” the purple one gasps. 

Fennec turns and looks at him with wide eyes. She takes a step back as if she’s going to run, but then stops and cocks her head to the side.

The turtle scrambles to his feet, blinking slowly at her. Presumably hoping to catch the attention of his companions, he clears his throat. “Uh, hey, hey - uh, fellas?”

“Little busy at the moment, Dee!” the blue one shouts, swinging his swords to connect and clash against Big & Scaly’s own weapon. “Unless you’d like to help!”

Fennec’s eyes flash as she watches the blue-banded turtle’s knees buckle under the weight of Big & Scaly’s weapon pressing down on him. 

“Stay down, love,” she growls, hunkering down. Unable to resist, she grins and gives Purple a wink. “I got this.”

Fennec sharply turns towards the fight and growls. Her eyes flicker and narrow. She hunkers down before darting forward, zipping past both the red and blue-clad turtles. The blue one stumbles back, nearly slicing the red one with his swords. Fennec lets out a cry before launching herself at Big & Scaly and chomping down onto his shoulder.

Big & Scaly screams, spinning around in circles in an attempt to throw her off. They finally reach back and grab Fennec by the scruff, lifting her and throwing her off them. Fennec stumbles a bit before standing upright, and in her mouth is a torn piece of leather. She spits it out and smirks at Big & Scaly. 

“Uh, hey Dee, is that — ” someone behind her whispers. 

“The fox I just rescued, yes,” Purple says.

Fennec frowns and rolls her eyes.

“So, they’re a yokai?” 

“Yeah, definitely a yokai — ”

_Oh, this is getting old._

“Do you mind saving the small talk for later?” she interjects. She brushes her hair from her face and gestures to Big & Scaly with a wave of her paw. “I don’t suppose you four would care to lend a hand? Or am I to finish this fight myself?”

The four turtles exchange similar expressions of what she can only describe as, ‘What in the actual fuck is going on?’ before the blue one shrugs, swings his swords, and charges at Big & Scaly with a laugh. The red one is not far behind, and soon the orange and purple ones join the fray too. Fennec smirks and jumps onto Big & Scaly’s back, snapping and biting at his shoulders. Unfortunately, however, Fennec fails to see his clawed hand reaching up to grab her by the scruff once more.

 _Not again!_ She yelps and feels weightless as she’s thrown towards the turtles. All of them scatter but not before she slams into the side of a dumpster and crumbles to the ground. 

Fennec slowly lifts her head up and gasps at the pain radiating from the top of her head all the way down to her toes. No sooner has she pushed herself off the ground than her head starts to spin. She looks up and notices that the turtles have arrayed themselves around the orange one. Her heart sinks. 

_Oh please don’t be hurt,_ she sighs. 

The red-banded turtle meets her eye and Fennec averts her gaze. She hears the sound of footfalls approaching, and lifts her head up to see a green hand extended towards her. She eyes the hand warily, before sighing and allowing herself to be pulled up to her feet. She clutches her side and moans.

“Thanks for the save back there,” the red turtle says with a chuckle. His tone turns to concern. “You okay? You took quite the punch.”

“Well, you did get me out of that cage, so I guess we’re even now,” Fennec mutters. “And to answer your question, I’m fine; I’ve been through worse.” She hisses as she pulls her paw away and blood taints her tannish-white fur. She winces at the sight of it. _Oh, Mother is not going to like this…_

“Uh, you’re bleeding, so not fine,” the red one says. He turns to look over at his brothers. “Hey, Leon, we could use you over here. Looks like we got ourselves a head wound!”

 _Leon?_ Fennec questions. _What an odd name for a turtle..._

“Oh joy, I love those,” the blue one groans, rolling his eyes. He walks over and immediately begins digging into the pouch clipped to his waist. Eventually, he draws out a tiny water bottle and a fresh roll of gauze.

“I’m fine,” Fennec says again as the blue one approaches her. She waves him off. “It’s not even that bad.”

Frowning, Fennec rips her hand away from the red-banded turtle's large hand. She blinks a few times, swaying on her feet before pitching forward — but luckily the red one is right there to catch her before she hits the ground again. A moment of shock, then she quickly sobers up enough to shove him away with a glare. 

“Clearly you’re fine because you can barely stand without falling over,” the blue one, _Leon,_ snorts. He jerks his head towards the orange and purple ones. “Look, Miguel’s lucky he’s walking away with some bruising and scratches, you — ” he points “ — on the other hand, are another story.”

Fennec continues to glare at him. _Miguel?_ she wonders. _He doesn’t look like a Miguel to me._

“I don’t need your help,” she says through clenched teeth. 

“Right, right, so, how many fingers am I holding up?” he grins, holding up two fingers in front of her face. 

Fennec smirks and narrows her eyes before rolling them and scoffing at the sight of his raised hand. She’s totally got this, like taking candy from a baby — 

“One,” she says, quite sure of herself.

Leon laughs and shakes his head — Fennec’s face falls. 

“Try two, Foxy,” he snorts. He drops his hand down and points to the empty crate next to the dumpster. “Now, take a seat and lemme work, okay? You probably have a concussion.”

Frowning, she folds her arms over her chest, sits down on the crate, and shuts her eyes. The blue-banded turtle wastes no time. He sets to working on her head wound, washing away most of the blood, and manages to clean it up as best as he can with the limited supplies in his arsenal. Before long, Fennec cracks open an eye and catches sight of a water bottle in one of his hands. She regards it suspiciously and raises an eyebrow. 

“It’s water, I promise,” he assures her. “Thought you’d like to get the taste of Big & Scaly out of your mouth.”

“How considerate of you,” Fennec remarks. She takes the water bottle, downs it, swishes it around in her mouth, and spits it out. She shudders and wipes her mouth with the back of her free paw.

“So, why was that guy after you?” the red one asks.

“And why should I tell you?” she snips, opening her eyes again. Looking from one to the other, she scoffs. “I hardly know you.”

“Well, we did just rescue you,” Leon states, still working on dressing her head wound. He gently wraps the gauze around the wound before tying off the gauze and stowing everything back into his pouch. He crosses his arms over his chest as if taking one last look at his work. “So, I believe you owe us a ‘thank you’ and maybe an explanation as to what you’re doing in the city and not, ya know — underground.”

Fennec’s lips purse into a frown. She knows they are right, even if she doesn’t want to admit it. They did rescue her and they _did_ patch her up. Now she wouldn’t have to go visit Archie and wake him up for a patch job. 

_Damnit_ , she huffs. 

Leon smirks at her. Seconds tick by before eventually her shoulders droop. She takes in a deep breath, closes her eyes again, and nods.

“As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right,” Fennec finally murmurs. She touches the side of her head where the blue-banded turtle has wrapped it before bringing her paw to rest in her lap. “I do suppose I owe you a thank you for saving me. So, thank you — for rescuing me…” Her voice drops low and whispers, “Even if I could’ve done just fine without you four.”

“Uh — _scoff_!” 

Fennec looks up and meets the purple one’s bristling gaze. 

“You were trapped in a cage! A yokai-proof cage, might I add,” he says, striding towards her with the orange one -- Miguel -- right on his heels. 

“I had everything under control, no thanks to you lot,” Fennec says.

“Clearly, everything was going according to plan,” the purple-clad turtle snorts, folding his arms over his chest. His comment earns him a sharp jab to the side by the red-clad turtle and a stern glare.

“So, what did Big & Scaly want with you anyway?” the orange-clad turtle asks, leaning against the purple one for support.

“To put it mildly, I was accused of being in possession of something belonging to their employer that they clearly wanted back,” Fennec answers, brows furrowing, “which was a lie. I only took something that _didn’t_ belong to them.”

Watching the interaction between these turtles is _quite_ amusing, Fennec muses with a furrowed brow. Something tugs at the edge of her mind; and somehow — she realizes she knows these turtles. These brothers, as she recalls. She ponders a moment and worries at her bottom lip. But where has she seen them? Surely, they weren’t at one of her mother’s parties — 

_No,_ she muses with a shake of her head. She watches closely how they behave and treat one another. Her brow furrows again, and her eyes narrow. _They are definitely not the kind to fit in with Mother’s crowd._

But then again, the Hidden City is filled with all different kinds of creatures and yokai alike. It wouldn’t be impossible for her to have met them in passing…

“So, you are a thief,” the red-banded turtle pipes up, pulling Fennec from her thoughts. 

_Oh, right. We’re still on that_. 

Within moments the facade is back in place, and she scoffs. 

“Thief is rather harsh, don’t you think?” she says. Her lips curl into a smile, revealing her sharp canines. “I prefer the term, ‘requisitions specialist,’ sounds a bit more pleasing on the resume.”

“Pretty sure that’s just a fancier way of saying you’re a thief,” the purple one comments, eyebrows furrowed.

“Ah, you must be the funny one,” she says with a dry laugh, pointing a paw at him.

Smirking, he opens his mouth to retaliate, but Leon is right there to cut him off with a glare.

“Don’t even say it, Donnie,” he whispers.

 _So, the purple one is called Donnie. Hmm, I’ll need to keep that in mind,_ Fennec smiles. 

Shaking her head with a chuckle, Fennec slowly rises to her feet. She steadies herself, bracing one paw on the wall, and looks up to look at the four turtles. Slowly and carefully she removes her paw from the wall, bows her head, and smiles--a silent thank you.

“Look, I don’t need to explain myself to you four, and as much fun as this whole shebang was, I must really be going. After all, a thie— I mean, _requisitions specialist,_ is never off the clock.” She waves and throws them one last wink. “Ta-ta turtles! Perhaps we will meet again in the future!”

She taps her cloaking pendant twice, and right before their eyes, she shrinks down to the same size as she was while trapped in the cage. She can’t help but feel the swell of pride bubble in her chest when the orange one’s lips curl upward into a smile as she bumps her head against his ankle. He reaches down to pet her, but she dodges his hand, jumping up and landing on what she can only assume is some kind of protective, mechanical shell belonging to Donnie. She startles him by nosing his cheek before backflipping into the air and then dashing out of the alley.

Fennec ducks around the corner and hides behind the lid of the fallen trash can then pops her head out from behind it and waits patiently for the turtles to leave the alley. Leon and Big Red, aptly named, are the first to leave the alley. She can hear them talking, and the way the blue one has his arm around the red one’s shoulder — well, she can’t help but find it endearing. Then, Miguel and the purple one — _Donnie_ , she reminds herself — exit the alley. Fennec notices the cage tucked under Donnie’s arm and her ears flatten. 

Once the turtles are out of sight and just out of earshot, Fennec taps her cloaking pendant twice, the familiar rush of energy swirling around her. On two feet, she cracks her neck and rotates her shoulder to work out the kinks. She jogs back into the alley and makes her way up to the roof via the fire escape. Kneeling down she closes her eyes, ears twitching, honing in on the turtles. 

A moment later she hears footsteps. Her quarry located, she crouches down and launches herself into a run, leaping over the next few rooftops to catch up with the four turtles. She manages to get ahead of them a few blocks and kneels down, continuing her own surveillance.

The red and blue-banded turtles are in some kind of deep animated conversation, while the orange one and Donnie are not far behind, enveloped in a conversation of their own. Well, from where Fennec stands, it appears that the orange banded turtle is doing most of the talking and practically bouncing on his heels while Donnie simply nods and continues tinkering with the cage. 

Fennec continues to watch them walk down the empty street and it finally occurs to her where they are going. Her shoulders slump as her eyes lock onto Big Mama’s bigger and even more luxurious Grand Nexus Hotel. She huffs, lying flat on her stomach and propping her chin on her elbows. After watching them for a few more minutes she decides it is time to take her leave. She gets to her feet and dusts off the front of her dress, before opening her bag. She breathes a sigh of relief when she finds the book still safely tucked away and asleep. 

“After all the trouble I’ve gone through tonight because of you, I am definitely asking for a raise when we get back to the Hidden City,” she grumbles, digging around the bag. 

Her mumbled comment earns a disgruntled grumble and Fennec rolls her eyes as a result. She digs a little further into the pouch and pulls out a shiny, teal green teleporting token (again, courtesy of Archie’s genius). She traces a nail over one of the many symbols on the token and then tosses it onto the ground. Soon, blue and white swirls of energy erupt from the token and begin to crawl around her feet. 

Fennec takes one last look at the hotel and stops when she realizes that she’s being watched. She catches the eye of the purple banded turtle — _Donnie_ — and for a moment, the whole city grows still and it’s just the two of them. Her nose twitches. Donnie smirks at her, and Fennec happily returns it with a smile of her own before she dashes into the portal and tumbles out of the other side. It does not take long before the portal closes behind her, and she stoops to pick up the token, stowing it back into her bag. 

She looks up at the opened gates and grins when a one-eyed, monstrous-looking bat-like yokai squawks at her from their post. It flaps its wings and then flies off to the west.

“Home sweet home,” Fennec murmurs, shifting her bag over her shoulder. She hums quietly and then makes her way through the open gates. 

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks friends for reading!
> 
> see ya'll next time!
> 
> \- natalie

**Author's Note:**

> thanks again friends for all the love and support!
> 
> kudos and comments are welcomed! i love hearing from you all! 
> 
> see you all next chapter!
> 
> \- nat


End file.
